Review by Jacobo on January 22, 2005.

When I have to review a band I am not that familiar with, I usually do some research over the Internet. This time Atreyu was the band and I found out that they had created quite a fuss in the underground with their debut Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, so I was looking forward to listening to their newest opus, The Curse. I also read that they were a powerful hardcore band that showed a lot of promise, and here is where I started to disagree after listening to the bands newest offering. Where in hell do people get off saying Atreyu are a hardcore band? They sure have some ‘core singing, but the musical direction leans towards the metal; heavy fucking metal that has some hardcore influences and some emo choruses, but all of this within a broad metal scope.

Atreyu´s newest proposal is a heavy, melodic and intelligent release. It contains a crystal clear production that never seems to lose the power. It is a release full of modern heavy music where you can hear some present day Soilwork, as well as some eventual Maiden-isms and some great and emotionally charged clean vocal emo choruses that are so catchy that will stick for a long time in your head.

One thing I am extremely thankful for are the solos. Finally a band within the metalcore genre is incorporating guitar shredding solos and man are they good. It all has to do with the level of musicianship these guys can handle. They can play their instruments and they can do it well.

The only problem I see with The Curse, is that it is another CD from the exploding Metalcore genre that seems to be so overpopulated nowadays. I don’t see it as powerful as other genres, but I guess this is just my opinion. Grunge died, nu-metal died and metalcore will die, at least as a fashion to a bigger audience.

Nonetheless, Atreyu´s The Curse, a CD full of heavy guitars, aggressive vocals and incredibly catchy choruses. I really enjoyed this one. It kills.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 9
Originality: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.6 of 10